Would You Want your Appliances posting on Facebook?

With All the hype and progress around machine learning these days, Patent 9350743 from Facebook available this week stands out from the crowd.

According to this patent/invention FaceBook is claiming that it can empower your appliances and connected devices to be a part of the social sharing phenomena.

Imagine your Microwave alerting your friends what you nuked for breakfast this morning? Or How about your washer complaining how much it has to work in your household on Facebook…hmm.

According to the patent, users today are increasingly able to access various machines via client devices, allowing them to remotely configure and control their machines. For example, users may modify thermostat settings via an application executing on your iPhone or retrieve vehicle diagnostic information using another application executing on the phone. However, different applications are associated with different machines, making it inconvenient for a user to remotely configure or control multiple machines.

According to the patent, A social networking system includes information identifying a machine (e.g., a robot, a drone, a computer, a thermostat, etc.) and a connection between the machine and an owner of the machine, which is a user of the social networking system capable of authorizing an action by the machine.

The owner of the machine associates permissions associated with various actions by the machine, where a permission associated with an action identifies one or more criteria for performing the action.

Permissions may specify types of connections between social networking system users and the owner of the machine via the social networking system to allow social networking system users with specific types of connections to the owner of the machine to perform certain actions using the machine.

Information describing an action performed by the machine may be communicated to other users of the social networking system via a suitable communication channel.

In Summary, the aspiration here is that an user and his social circle can control one or many devices via Facebook. Use your FB account to start the baking and it will alert you and your friends when the delicious goodies are available and ready!

Yup, Times, They are a changin’ but my Appliances are not getting a Facebook account anytime soon!